Hurt
by Jenniferee
Summary: Post-liar game has always been okay, until Nao's father died. And the man who once saved her saves her again.


_Hey :D This fanfic is like, different types of writing all in one, like one moment there might be a flashback, the next a conversation, the next a narration... So yep. It's like, to bring you to different perspectives. Hope you enjoy :)_

DISCLAIMER: _I do not own Liar Game._

* * *

Akiyama's heart pounded in his ribs and his breath caught in his lungs. He never expected anything like this. Through all these years of separation, reunion is hardly feasible and definitely weird. Who ever heard of meeting a long lost 'friend' in the most unlikeliest of places?

* * *

PROLOGUE

_"We did it, Akiyama-san! We ended Liar Game!"_

_(Smirk)_

_"Hey! You never have any emotions."_

_(Smirk)_

_"Haii~, Akiyama-san. Haven't you even changed?"_

_"Maybe not?"_

_"Obviously. Akiyama-san?"_

_"Hn?"_

_"What are you going to do after this?"_

_"Be a construction worker?"_

_"Nooo! Why do you want to be a construction worker?"_

_"With my criminal record, it's not going to be easy to be a professor or something, if that's what you mean."_

_"You should really try being a professor, Akiyama-san."_

_"Nahh."_

_"Get a PHD. I believe in you, Akiyama-san. You can do it!"_

_(You can do it... you can do it... you can do it...)_

* * *

I would hold you in my arms

I would take the pain away

Thank you for all you've done

Forgive all your mistakes

There's nothing I wouldn't do

To hear your voice again

Sometimes I want to call you

But I know you won't be there

Ohh~ I'm sorry for

Blaming you

For everything I just couldn't do

And I hurt myself

Hurting you

* * *

It's six a.m. The clock tower in the cemetery is ringing. And Nao's been in there for about four hours. It's years pass the end of the Liar Game, and no one from there keeps in touch with her anymore. Fukunaga-san is in Paris with his, um, I mean her newest boyfriend, and Akiyama-san is... Well, he's somewhere that Nao doesn't know, evidently. He's moved out of his apartment. Probably having the time of his life somewhere out there. Without her trailing after him. Nao knows that it's good for him to be free a little, and she's definitely quite free too without the anchor of the Liar Game, but she can't help but miss him a little. That image of him is fading day by day in that brain of her's.

And there's been quite some changes. Nao is now a brave, fearless girl, with five suitors, a psychology major and a dead dad.

It only happened a few days ago. The idea of Nao's dad being packed up in a box and left six feet under the normal way of life is enough to make her throw up. Nao has insomnia, and she's getting skinnier and skinnier. She looks like she's anorexic. As well as deranged, with her black hair long and always messed up. She has no one to turn to now, because none of her friends-not even her suitors- like staying with a weirdo.

The clock strikes seven. You can hardly see Nao, crouched into a tiny ball, hair cascading over her shoulders. Things will never be the same.

Ever again.

Unless a certain hottie, a knight in shining armour, would come to rescue her as he did before.

Speak of the devil-!

"Hey, is that a familiar face I see?" Akiyama asks (in his head, of course) as he strides into the cemetery to see his mom again after having the time of his life and sees a bony little creature huddled into a ball. If she didn't look oddly familiar, he'd say she was already just dead.

Akiyama's changed a lot. He's a college professor, got a PHD, and a cluster of adoring pupils. Plus, he's rolling in the dough. Is that a Rolex on his wrist?

But he keeps coming back to visit his mother in the cemetery. Some things never change. And this time, it's a good thing.

Very slowly, he walks over to the extremely familiar figure stealthily.

He crouches down and taps her shoulder.

"What, no, I'm not ready to die yet!" a muffled voice emerges from the creature. She lifts up her head, and all at once Akiyama Shinichi sees who it is, with her tear-stained cheeks.

It's Nao.

This was exactly how she looked in round 1 of Liar Game. Then she transformed into a witty, headstrong girl throughout each round, but her bubbly disposition has never changed.

Once Kanzaki Nao lifts her head, expecting the Grim Reaper, her eyes and jaw widens, and then she burrows herself into Akiyama's sweater. Does she smell something like Chanel?

He's a little taken aback, and angry to find himself secretly pleased. But then he turns shocked when he sees the tombstone with her father's name on it.

Good thing it wasn't a gangster or someone who made her so upset, otherwise Shinichi will see to it that he wished he was never born.

'So that's the reason', he thinks to himself as he tries to struggle from Nao's embrace. But that makes Nao hold on tighter.

She never wants to let go.

* * *

And all of a sudden, Akiyama feels ashamed. Embarrassed. Really really sorry. And you know why? Because he's broken his promise, the promise he made that said he wouldn't leave her alone. And he has, he most certainly has. That guilty feeling within his stomach never stops churning. The one time he ever opened up his heart to this girl, and all of a sudden he's gone and left her in the dust. She was crying. He never wanted a tear to fall from her eyes when he stepped in to help her. He had let her down.

And then he's angry at himself. Why? He hardly made promises. He hardly met anyone like her. And then all of a sudden he left her here to have her own life. I mean, anything could have happned these past few years! Anything!

And she was the first girl he'd ever... loved.

* * *

And all of a sudden, Nao feels ashamed. Embarrassed. Really really sorry. And you know why? Because she didn't care about him that much after the Liar Game, when all she seemed to be was caring and helpful. The guy who saved her life, and who taught her some of the most valuable lessons she could ever learn. Like, when you were friends with someone, you wouldn't trust that person entirely. You would doubt the person in some areas until you get to know him/her better. And that really helped Nao in her college years; she became a great friend and her friends were always close to her. It was just this incident that probably made her friends misunderstand Nao. Because they didn't doubt her.

And then she's angry at herself. Why? She might have tried to care and forgive everyone she met, but this guy... She had broken through the barriers into his heart, and then she left him to be without doing anything more after the Liar Game. He could have been through anything these past few years! Anything!

And he was the first boy she'd ever... loved.

* * *

FLASHBACK

The Liar Game ended with a challenge no one had though of. _(BTW I'm not referring to the TV serial now) _It was a test of their behaviour in the outside world. The contestants had to work separately to get to a certain destination. And somehow or another, everyone who could 'help' you get there: taxi drivers, information desk people, they were all LG-hired people. Some you could trust. Some you couldn't. And somehow the last challenge also tested the trust between the players, especially between Nao and Akiyama. Could she trust him? Could he trust her? Everything was solely individual. But in the end, guess who won?

Nao!

Akiyama was a little angry at himself (probably thinking to himself "Stupid, stupid Aki, losing to a girl") but he and the dealers and the rest of the participants all expected her to win. And as Nao laughed as she ran into Shinichi's arms, he realised they were still, in the end, team mates and probably best friends. No challenge could break them apart.

Except for the challenge of time and of daily life.

That was 3 years ago.

* * *

Aki gets Nao to stand up after a while, and she walks back with wobbly legs and his arm around her waist to his car. He starts the engine to his blue BMW, and they head to her house to drop her off. No one talks in the car ride, but there's this peaceful silence that they both have never really felt before. All the silences they've experienced, together or with other people, have always been awkward. Was there really such a thing called peaceful silence? But dear Nao breaks the moment with a giggle and turns on the radio to this popular channel, and the silence disappears like it never happened. Akiyama smirks.

When she gets out of her car, she leans over and gives her Akiyama-san a little peck on the cheek as she giggles and gets out, into the morning sun and into the garden of her little white-stone and red brick house. Akiyama freezes, smiles and they exchange phone numbers and promise to keep in touch before he goes off.

2 more days in this city according to his schedule... He better make it longer.

She'll be waiting for him to visit again, and she knows it won't be for much longer.

* * *

_Hahas hope you all liked this. I'M SORRY ABOUT THE SEMI-LACK OF ROMANCE! I CAN'T WRITE ROMANCE SCENES EVEN THOUGH I LOVE THEM DEARLY. They make me cringe. And besides, a full make-out session would be kinda rushed for two people who've met after about 3 years or so right?_

_Please read and review lots! I'd appreciate it tons ^^_


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